1.
2nd millennium BC
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The 2nd millennium BC spans the years 2000 through 1000 BC. It marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot, chariot warfare and population movements lead to violent changes at the center of the millennium, a new order emerges with Greek dominance of the Aegean and the rise of the Hittite Empire. The end of the sees the transition to the Iron Age. World population begins to rise steadily, reaching some 50 million towards 1000 BC, the Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and their contemporary Kings of Babylon, of Amorite origin, brought good governance without much tyranny, and favoured elegant art and architecture. Farther east, the Indus Valley civilization was in a period of decline, possibly as a result of intense, Egypt and Babylonias military tactics were still based on foot soldiers transporting their equipment on donkeys. Combined with an economy and difficulty in maintaining order, this was a fragile situation that crumbled under the pressure of external forces they could not oppose. About a century before the middle of the millennium, bands of Indo-European invaders came from the Central Asian plains and swept through Western Asia and they were riding fast two-wheeled chariots powered by horses, a system of weaponry developed earlier in the context of plains warfare. This tool of war was unknown among the classical civilizations, Egypt and Babylonias foot soldiers were unable to defend against the invaders, in 1630 BC, the Hyksos swept into the Nile Delta, and in 1595 BC, the Hittites swept into Mesopotamia. The peoples in place were quick to adapt to the new tactics, among the great states of the time, only Babylon refrained from taking part in battles, mainly due to its new position as the worlds religious and intellectual capital. Also contributing to the changes were the Sea Peoples, ship-faring raiders of the Mediterranean, the civilizations, kingdoms and dynasties in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme The events in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme. It is difficult to pinpoint the year or even the correct century for many events of the 2nd Millennium BC. c.1700 BC–1300 BC—Palace complex in Knossos. C.1600 BC–1360 BC Egyptian domination over Canaan and Syria, in the history of the Egyptian language, the early 2nd millennium saw a transition from Old Egyptian to Middle Egyptian. As the most used form of the Ancient Egyptian language. The earliest attested Indo-European language, the Hittite language, first appears in cuneiform in the 16th century BC, Hittite is the best known and the most studied language of the extinct Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages. The first Northwest Semitic language, Ugaritic, is attested in the 14th century BC, the first fully phonemic script Proto-Canaanite developed from Egyptian hieroglyphs, becoming the Phoenician alphabet by 1200 BC. Mycenaean Greek, the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, was used on the Greek mainland, Crete, the people in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme The Canadian–American speculative fiction author S. M. Stirling has written a set in Bronze Age era, circa the 1250s BC

2.
18th century BC
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The 18th century BC was the century which lasted from 1800 BC to 1701 BC.1800 BC, Iron age in India 1800 BC, Beginning of the Nordic Bronze Age in the period system devised by Oscar Montelius. 1800 BC –1300 BC, Troy VI flourishes, C.1800 BC, Sedentary Mayan communities in Mesoamerica c.1800 BC, Hyksos start to settle in the Nile Delta. They had the capital at Avaris in northeastern Nile Delta,1800 BC Adichanallur urn-burial site in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. In 2004, a number of dating from around 3,800 years ago. 1800 BC Indo-Aryan migration c.1792 BC –1750 BC, – Hammurabi rules Babylonia and has to deal with Mari, C.1792 BC –1750 BC, – Stela of Hammurabi, from Susa is made. It is now in Musée du Louvre, Paris,1787 BC –1784 BC, Amorite conquests of Uruk and Isin. 1786 BC, Egypt, Queen Sobekneferu dies, end of Twelfth Dynasty, start of Thirteenth Dynasty, start of Fourteenth Dynasty. 1779 BC, Zimrilim, the King of Mari, starts to rule,1770 BC, Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes, capital of Egypt. 1766 BC, Shang conquest of Xia Dynasty,1764 BC –1750 BC, Wars of Hammurabi. 1757 BC, Mari sacked by Hammurabi,1757 BC, Zimrilim, the King of Mari, dies. 1750 BC, Hyksos occupation of Northern Egypt,1750 BC, A colossal volcanic eruption at Mount Veniaminof, Alaska. C.1750 BC, Vedic period starts in India, C.1750 BC, Investiture of Zimrilim, facsimile of a wall painting on mud plaster from the Zimrilim palace at Mari, Court 106, is made. It is now in Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1740–1720 BC, reigns of pharaoh Neferhotep I and his brother Sobekhotep IV, marking the apex of the Egyptian 13th Dynasty. 1749 BC –1712 BC, Mesopotamian Rebellions, early Unetice culture, beginning of the Bronze Age in Central Europe. Minoan civilization, phase II of the Middle period, C.1700 BC, The last species of mammoth became extinct on Wrangel Island. C.1700 BC, Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture c.1700 BC, Minoan Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in Crete. C.1700 BC, Aegean metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of Ancient Near East jewelers, C.1700 BC, Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire. C.1700 BC, Bronze Age starts in China, C.1700 BC, Shang Dynasty starts in China

3.
17th century BC
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C.1700 BC, Minoan Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in Ancient Greece. C.1700 BC, beginning of the Late Minoan period on Crete, C.1700 BC, Aegean metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of Ancient Near East jewelers, whose techniques they seem to borrow. C.1700 BC, Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire, C.1700 BC,1450 BC, Young girl gathering saffron crocus flowers, detail of wall painting, Room 3 of House Xeste 3, Akrotiri, Thera, is made. It is now kept in Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos, C.1700 BC, Bronze Age starts in China. C.1698 BC, Lila-Ir-Tash the ruler of the Elamite Empire died, Temti-Agun I started to rule the Elamite Empire. 1691 BC, Belu-bani, the King of Assyria died, C.1690 BC, Temti-Agun I, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died. Tan-Uli started to rule the Elamite Empire,1690 BC, Libaia became the King of Assyria. C.1680 BC, Egypt, Development of leavened bread,1675 BC, Tang of Shang, first ruler of the Shang Dynasty becomes ruler in China. C.1673 BC, Sharma-Adad I became the King of Assyria, C.1661 BC, Iptar-Sin became the King of Assyria. C.1655 BC, Tan-Uli, the ruler of the Elamite Empire,1633 BC—May 2—Lunar Saros 34 begins. 1627 BC, Beginning of a cooling of world climate lasting several years recorded in all over the world. It might have been caused by the Minoan eruption of Thera or the Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius,1625 BC, Samsu-Ditana becomes King of Babylon. 1621 BC, Lullaia becomes the King of Assyria,1620 BC, Mursili I becomes King of the Hittite Empire. 1615 BC, Shu-Ninua became the King of Assyria, jie, The last ruler of Xia Dynasty, ruled China for 52 years until 1600 BC according to the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project. 1686 BC—Hammurabi 1684 BC—Heremon, Irish legend The last known population of mammoth, preserved on Wrangel Island. See, List of sovereign states in the 17th century BC

4.
16th century BC
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The 16th century BC is a century which lasted from 1600 BC to 1501 BC.1700 BC –1500 BC, Hurrian conquests. 1601 BC, Sharma-Adad II became the King of Assyria, C. c.1600 BC, The date of the earliest discovered rubber balls. C.1600 BC, Early Mycenaean culture, weapons, Cyclopaean walls, C.1600 BC, Unetice culture ends in Czech Republic, eastern Europe Development of the windmill in Persia. 1595 BC, Sack of Babylon by the Hittite king Mursilis I. c.1595 BC, The overthrow of the ruling Amorite dynasty in Aleppo,1570 BC, Cretan palaces at Knossos and other centres flourish despite disasters. 1567 BC, Egypt, End of Fifteenth Dynasty, end of Sixteenth Dynasty, end of Seventeenth Dynasty, C.1550 BC, The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to Mycenaean civilization. 1556 BC, Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the flood of Deucalion. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology,1556 BC, Shang Dynasty of China established *. 1525 BC, End of Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt, C.1512 BC, The flood of Deucalion, according to OFlaherty, Augustine, Eusebius, and Isidore. 1506 BC, Cecrops I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years, having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus. 1504 BC, Egypt started to conquer Nubia and the Levant, C.1500 BC, Many scholars date early parts of the Rig Veda to roughly the 16th century. C.1500 BC, Queen Hatsheput in Egypt, C.1500 BC, The element Mercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this decade. C.1500 BC, Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, C.1500 BC, Early traces of Maya civilization developing in Belize. C.1500 BC, The Phoenicians develop an alphabet—see Timeline of communication technology, C.1500 BC, Indo-Aryan migration is often dated to the 17th to 16th centuries. Tang of Shang, first ruler of Shang Dynasty, ruled China for 29 years since 1600 BC according to the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project,1597 BC—Aaron born to Amram and his wife Jochebed. Kamose, last Pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt, ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Hatshepsut, first female Pharaoh of Egypt c.1473 BC See, List of sovereign states in the 16th century BC

5.
Lunar eclipse
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A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra. This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moons location relative to its orbital nodes, a total lunar eclipse has the direct sunlight completely blocked by the earths shadow. The only light seen is refracted through the earths shadow and this light looks red for the same reason that the sunset looks red, due to rayleigh scattering of the more blue light. Because of its color, a total lunar eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can be viewed only from a relatively small area of the world. A lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours, whereas a total eclipse lasts for only a few minutes at any given place. Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions, for the date of the next eclipse see the section Recent and forthcoming lunar eclipses. The shadow of the Earth can be divided into two parts, the umbra and penumbra. Within the umbra, there is no solar radiation. However, as a result of the Suns large angular size, solar illumination is only partially blocked in the portion of the Earths shadow. A penumbral eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earths penumbra, the penumbra causes a subtle darkening of the moons surface. A special type of eclipse is a total penumbral eclipse. Total penumbral eclipses are rare, and when these occur, that portion of the moon which is closest to the umbra can appear darker than the rest of the moon. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a portion of the moon enters the umbra, when the moon travels completely into the Earths umbra, one observes a total lunar eclipse. The moons speed through the shadow is about one kilometer per second, nevertheless, the total time between the moons first and last contact with the shadow is much longer and could last up to four hours. The relative distance of the moon from the Earth at the time of an eclipse can affect the eclipses duration, in particular, when the moon is near its apogee, the farthest point from the Earth in its orbit, its orbital speed is the slowest. The diameter of the umbra does not decrease appreciably within the changes in the distance of the moon

6.
Saros (astronomy)
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The Saros is a period of approximately 223 synodic months, that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. A sar is one half of a saros, a series of eclipses that are separated by one saros is called a saros series. The earliest discovered historical record of what we call the saros is by Chaldean astronomers in the last several centuries BC and it was later known to Hipparchus, Pliny and Ptolemy. The name saros was applied to the cycle by Edmond Halley in 1691, who took it from the Suda. The Suda says, a measure and a number among Chaldeans, for 120 saroi make 2222 years according to the Chaldeans reckoning, if indeed the saros makes 222 lunar months, which are 18 years and 6 months. The information in the Suda in turn was derived directly or otherwise from the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea, the Greek word apparently comes from the Babylonian word sāru meaning the number 3600. Mechanical calculation of the cycle is built into the Antikythera mechanism, the saros, a period of 6585.3211 days, is useful for predicting the times at which nearly identical eclipses will occur. Three periodicities related to lunar orbit, the month, the draconic month. For an eclipse to occur, either the Moon must be located between the Earth and Sun or the Earth must be located between the Sun and Moon. This can happen only when the Moon is new or full, respectively, during most full and new moons, however, the shadow of the Earth or Moon falls to the north or south of the other body. Eclipses occur when the three form a nearly straight line. The period of time for two successive lunar passes through the plane is termed the draconic month, a 27.21222 day period.5545 days. In addition, because the saros is close to 18 years in length, the earth will be nearly the same distance from the sun, given the date of an eclipse, one saros later a nearly identical eclipse can be predicted. During this 18-year period, about 40 other solar and lunar eclipses take place, the axis of rotation of the Earth-Moon system exhibits a precession period of 18.59992 years). The saros is not a number of days, but contains the fraction of 1⁄3 of a day. Thus each successive eclipse in a saros series occurs about 8 hours later in the day, in the case of an eclipse of the Moon, the next eclipse might still be visible from the same location as long as the Moon is above the horizon. Given three saros eclipse intervals, the time of day of an eclipse will be nearly the same. This three saros interval is known as a triple saros or exeligmos cycle, at some point, eclipses are no longer possible and the series terminates

7.
Arpachshad
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Arpachshad, alternatively spelled Arphaxad or Arphacsad, was one of the five sons of Shem, the eldest son of Noah. Arpachshads brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram, he is an ancestor of Abraham and he is said by Gen.11,10 to have been born two years after the Flood, when Shem was 100. Arpachshads son is called Shelah, except in the Septuagint, where his son is Cainan, Cainan is also identified as Arpachshads son in Luke 3,36 and Jubilees 8,1. The Book of Jubilees additionally identifies Arpachshads wife as Rasuaya, the daughter of Susan, until Woolleys identification of Ur, Arpachshad was understood by many Jewish and Muslim scholars to be an area in northern Mesopotamia, Urfa of the Yazidis. This led to the identification of Arpachshad with Urfa-Kasid - a land associated with the Khaldis, donald B. Redford asserted that Arpachshad is to be identified with Babylon. If he is contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar II, he might be identified with Cyaxares

8.
Shem
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Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. Genesis 10,21 refers to ages of Shem and his brother Japheth. The verse is translated in the KJV as Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. However, the New American Standard Bible gives, Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. Genesis 11,10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of Arphaxad, two years after the flood, and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years. The children of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs, was one of the descendants of Arphaxad. Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the sons of Noah. Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right, in one Muslim legend, Shem was one of the people whom God made Jesus resurrect as a sign to the Children of Israel. According to some Jewish traditions, Shem is believed to have been Melchizedek, King of Salem whom Abraham is recorded to have met after the battle of the four kings. Shem is mentioned in Genesis 5,32,6,10,7,13,9,18,23, 26-27,10,11,10, some have reconstructed more complete genealogies based on this information as follows, Shem. Also Sem Literal meanings are named or renown, the sons of Shem were, Elam eternity - Asshur a step or strong - Arphaxad - Chaldeans, Hebrews Ziezi - son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. His name is mentioned in the excerpt Ziezi ex quo vulgares meaning Ziezi, of whom the Bulgars, according to Luke 3,36 Jesus is a descendant of Shem. Early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included Shems name in the genealogy of Muhammad, the following family tree contains information from the Hebrew Bible, without data from any other sources. According to Luke 3, a figure named Cainan is the son of Arpachshad. Finnegans Wake Wives aboard the Ark Herbermann, Charles, ed. Sem

9.
Hebrew calendar
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The Hebrew or Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits. The present Hebrew calendar is the product of evolution, including a Babylonian influence, when to add it was based on observation of natural agriculture-related events in Israel. Through the Amoraic period and into the Geonic period, this system was displaced by the mathematical rules used today. The principles and rules were codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah in the 12th century. Maimonides work also replaced counting years since the destruction of the Temple with the modern creation-era Anno Mundi, the era used since the Middle Ages is the Anno Mundi epoch. As with Anno Domini, the words or abbreviation for Anno Mundi for the era should properly precede the date rather than follow it, AM5777 began at sunset on 2 October 2016 and will end at sunset on 20 September 2017. The Jewish day is of no fixed length, the Jewish day is modeled on the reference to. there was evening and there was morning. In the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis, based on the classic rabbinic interpretation of this text, a day in the rabbinic Hebrew calendar runs from sunset to the next sunset. In most populated parts of the world this is always approximately 24 standard hours, halachically, a day ends and a new one starts when three stars are visible in the sky. The time between sunset and the time when the three stars are visible is known as bein hashmashot, and there are differences of opinion as to which day it falls into for some uses. This may be relevant, for example, in determining the date of birth of a child born during that gap, there is no clock in the Jewish scheme, so that the local civil clock is used. The civil clock is used only as a reference point – in expressions such as, Shabbat starts at. In Judaism, an hour is defined as 1/12 of the time from sunrise to sunset, so, during the winter, an hour can be less than 60 minutes. This proportional hour is known as a shaah zmanit, a Jewish hour is divided into 1080 halakim or parts. A part is 3⅓ seconds or 1/18 minute, the ultimate ancestor of the helek was a small Babylonian time period called a barleycorn, itself equal to 1/72 of a Babylonian time degree. These measures are not generally used for everyday purposes, instead of the international date line convention, there are varying opinions as to where the day changes. One opinion uses the antimeridian of Jerusalem, the weekdays start with Sunday and proceed to Saturday, Shabbat

10.
Saturn
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Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with a radius about nine times that of Earth. Although it has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive, Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture, its astronomical symbol represents the gods sickle. Saturns interior is composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock. This core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. Saturn has a yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Saturns magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiters, the outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, higher than on Jupiter, sixty-two moons are known to orbit Saturn, of which fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of moonlets comprising the rings, Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core, Saturns rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid, that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator. Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%,60,268 km versus 54,364 km, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent. Saturn is the planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. Although Saturns core is considerably denser than water, the specific density of the planet is 0.69 g/cm3 due to the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times the Earths mass, while Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth, together, Jupiter and Saturn hold 92% of the total planetary mass in the Solar System. On 8 January 2015, NASA reported determining the center of the planet Saturn, the temperature, pressure, and density inside Saturn all rise steadily toward the core, which causes hydrogen to transition into a metal in the deeper layers. Standard planetary models suggest that the interior of Saturn is similar to that of Jupiter, having a rocky core surrounded by hydrogen. This core is similar in composition to the Earth, but more dense, in 2004, they estimated that the core must be 9–22 times the mass of the Earth, which corresponds to a diameter of about 25,000 km. This is surrounded by a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, followed by a liquid layer of helium-saturated molecular hydrogen that gradually transitions to a gas with increasing altitude

11.
2060 Chiron
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2060 Chiron, also known as 95P/Chiron, is a minor planet in the outer Solar System, orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal, it was the member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs—bodies orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. Besides the four giant planets, Chiron and 10199 Chariklo, also a centaur, are the other bodies in the Solar System known to have rings. Although it was called an asteroid and classified only as a minor planet with the designation 2060 Chiron. Today it is classified as both a planet and a comet, and is accordingly also known by the cometary designation 95P/Chiron. Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology, michael Brown lists it as possibly a dwarf planet with a measured diameter of 206 km which is near the lower limit for an icy dwarf planet. Chiron was discovered on 1 November 1977 by Charles Kowal from images taken on 18 October at Palomar Observatory and it was given the temporary designation of 1977 UB. It was found near aphelion and at the time of discovery it was the most distant known minor planet, Chiron was even claimed as the tenth planet by the press. Chiron was later found on several images, going back to 1895. It had been at perihelion in 1945 but was not discovered then because there were few searches being made at time. The Lowell Observatorys survey for distant planets would not have gone down faint enough in the 1930s and it was named Chiron in 1979 after Chiron, one of the centaurs, it was suggested that the names of other centaurs be reserved for objects of the same type. Chirons orbit was found to be eccentric, with perihelion just inside the orbit of Saturn. According to the program Solex, Chirons closest approach to Saturn in modern times was around May 720, during this passage Saturns gravity caused Chirons semi-major axis to decrease from 14. 55±0.12 AU to 13.7 AU. It does not come nearly as close to Uranus, Chiron crosses Uranuss orbit where the latter is farther than average from the Sun, Chiron attracted considerable interest because it was the first object discovered in such an orbit, well outside the asteroid belt. Chiron is classified as a centaur, the first of a class of objects orbiting between the outer planets, Chiron is a Saturn–Uranus object because its perihelion lies in Saturns zone of control and its aphelion lies in that of Uranus. Chiron is probably a refugee from the Kuiper belt and will become a short-period comet in about a million years. Chiron came to perihelion in 1996, the visible and near-infrared spectrum of Chiron is neutral, and is similar to that of C-type asteroids and the nucleus of Halleys Comet. The near-infrared spectrum of Chiron shows absence of water ice, the assumed size of an object depends on its absolute magnitude and the albedo